“Stop it! Why do you keep gaming? What is so great about it? You should do something productive with your time”, Alex’s father scolded him.
“But I am good at it. See I am already ranked in Diamond class, only a handful of players can reach this stage”, Alex replied, “I am only 19, so I might even be able to make a career in this.”
“Did you just say a career? Are you an idiot? Who will allow there kid to be a gamer. Will you be even able to earn anything. Stop the day dreaming and focus on your study. Next time I see you playing, I will throw the computer away. You should go to sleep now”, the father warned and shut the door.
Alex was very angry. He thought about running away, then he was just sad as he didn’t have any other place to go. He just kept on looking at the game screen for another hour, thinking, “why is this so bad. Why is gaming considered bad? People even play sports and a lot more people try and fail at sports than gaming, in that way gaming has a much higher chance for a person to succeed”, and so his thoughts continued. Before he realized, he went to sleep on the chair with his head resting on the keyboard.
Next morning his father woke him up. He was looking at Alex with disgust. As Alex lifted his head from the keyboard, accidentally pressing some of the keys. He could see a familiar screen on the monitor and after realizing what it was, he turned his head towards his father, scared of what’s coming.
His father punched the wall, only to get hurt himself. He shook his hand and began blowing on it slowly.
All this time Alex was just watching, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to think. He kept looking at his father as he slowly blowed on his knuckles.
After about five minutes his father spoke, much slowly, hoping that Alex would understand, “Please Alex. I can understand by the way you say it, that you must be good at gaming. That’s good. But families don’t earn on games. They need real job. I am already 45 and would want to retire in another 5-10 years. In the time I ask you to do something meaningful with your life so that you can stand up on your own feet. I know you are capable of doing anything if you put your mind to it. So start doing something productive.”
Alex was speechless, it was hard to reply to the weak voice of his father. He wanted to say, “I am confident! I can win and earn from gaming. I can join a professional team. I can make a name for myself”, but he couldn’t gather the courage to say that. Tears began to roll out from his eyes and he just nodded to whatever he heard.
“Thank you, his father replied. I believe in you. You can do so much more.”, his father repeated, and hugged him.
- Siddarth
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